Jaayen Tho Jaayen Kahan - In Memory of Talat Mahmood

Talat Mahmood with Rafi and Manna De

Photo Courtesy : Tribune India

11 years back, 09 May 1998, Talat Mahmood moved out of this big bad world. May be god might have got bored and he wanted to listen to Talat Mahmood....

Very few people of my generation, would like to listen to Talat Mahmood. I can challenge, some of them have not even heard of his name, forget about listening to him.

.......... Producer-Director-Studio Owner Mehboob Khan of 'Mother India' fame, would always put his finger on Talat's throat and tell him " Khuda ka noor tumhare gale mein hai ! "

Talat Mahmood, who was popular for his ghazal singing, had a very interesting voice which had vibrations and so far, till today, there are huge number of people who could imitate Kishore, Rafi, Mukesh and even Manna De and succeed as well. But none to imitate Talat Mahmood as it is not easy to do so. Such was the voice of Talat Mahmood.

Some of the songs which I remember today are here:

1. sham-e-gham ki kasam
2. Phir wohi shaam wohi gham wohi tanhaayee
3. Aansoo samajh ke kyon mujhe aankh se tumne gira diya
4. Jaayen tho jaayen kahan
5. Meri yaad mein tum na aansoo bahaa na, ne jee ko jalana, mujhe bhool jaana
6. Hum dard ke maaron ka, itna tho phasana hai
7. Aaj ke mulaaqat bas itni, dekho humein tumse hai preet kitni (Sung with Latha Mangeshkar)
8. Dil-e-naadan tujhe hua kya hai, aakhir is dard ki dawa kya hai
9. koi nahin mera is duniya mein aashian barbaad hai
10. Tasveer Banata Hoon, Tasveen nahin banthi
11. Jalte hain jis ke liye (this is one song which I cannot forget and makes me quite emotional)
12. Zindagi Denewaale sun
13. Seene mein sulagthe hain armaan (with Lata Mangeshkar and one of the ever memorable composition of Anil Biswas. You should listen to this song to enjoy those vikrit sur, sharp notes suddenly coming and flying off !!!)
14. Dekh li teri khudaayee

Well, the list goes on......

Talat used to sing Bengali songs in the name of Tapan Kumar

Talat has sung for very few films compared to the thousandwallahs like Rafi and Kishore. Talat is miles behind in terms of number. But, the quality is unmatchable.